A court in Jamnagar on April 15 ordered filmmaker Rajkumar Santoshi to pay Rs. 15,000 to Ashok Lal towards each bounced cheque of his. The next hearing has been scheduled for April 17. Santoshi had borrowed from Ashok Lal, a resident of Jamnagar and the owner of Shreeji Shipping, Rs. 1 crore for a film. In repayment of the loan, the filmmaker gave Lal 10 cheques of Rs. 10 lakh each. However, the cheques bounced in December 2016. When Santoshi failed to repay the loan, Lal filed the suit under the Negotiable Instruments Act.
The filmmaker at first refused to accept the court summons. Even after accepting the summons later, he did not appear before the court. It is only after a bailable warrant was issued against him that he appeared in the Jamnagar court on April 15.
Santoshi has also been issued summons by a Rajkot court in another cheque bouncing case. That case was filed by a Rajkot-based producer.